Chapter 4 - The Woman Inside the House
Rowan's security team was small by design.
Only twelve people had direct access to his home, office and private operations.
Mave sat at the table as he listed their names.
“Gabriel.”
“Too loyal.”
“Vincent.”
“Wouldn't betray you.”
“Marcus.”
“Dead.”
Rowan frowned.
Mave looked up.
“What?”
“You skipped someone.”
“Who?”
“Your housekeeper.”
Rowan went still.
“Ruth?”
“Yes.”
“She has worked for my family for twenty years.”
Mave looked at him.
“My father trusted people who betrayed him.”
Rowan's eyes narrowed.
“You think Ruth could be involved?”
“I think you don't know as much as you believe you do.”
He stared.
Then picked up his phone.
“Bring Ruth here.”
An hour later, an older woman walked into the room.
She looked frightened.
Rowan spoke calmly.
“Ruth, I need you to answer every question truthfully.”
“I always do.”
“Who has accessed my office after midnight?”
She hesitated.
“No one.”
Mave noticed.
“That's a lie.”
Ruth looked at her.
“You should leave.”
“Why?”
“Because this isn't your world.”
Mave stood.
“My father died because someone decided my world wasn't worth telling me about.”
Ruth's face crumpled.
She started crying.
“I didn't want anyone to get hurt.”
Rowan stepped closer.
“Who?”
Ruth whispered,
“Mr. Vane.”
Rowan's eyes hardened.
“The mayor?”
She nodded.
“He paid people inside the organization.”
“For what?”
“To find the ledger.”
“And you helped him?”
“I was threatened.”
“With what?”
“My granddaughter.”
Mave softened.
Ruth took out a photograph.
A young girl.
“She's seventeen.”
Rowan sat back.
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
“That means they're holding her.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you come to me?”
“Because they said if I did, she'd die.”
Rowan stood.
“Who was the messenger?”
Ruth hesitated.
Then whispered one name.
“Victor Hale.”
Mave recognized it.
Rowan did too.
His right-hand man.
“Impossible.”
Ruth nodded.
“He's been selling information for years.”
Mave looked at Rowan.
He appeared genuinely stunned.
That was the first time she understood how deeply betrayal could wound even a powerful man.
“Where is Victor?”
Ruth shook her head.
“He left.”
Rowan's phone rang.
Gabriel.
He listened.
Then swore.
“Where?”
He ended the call.
“Victor took Julian.”
Mave stood.
“Your brother?”
“Yes.”
“Is he alive?”
“We don't know.”
For the first time, Rowan looked genuinely afraid.
Mave took his hand.
“You're going to get him back.”
He looked at her.
“I can't lose him.”
“You won't.”
He nodded.
The hunt began.
Victor had left the city.
They tracked him through warehouse cameras, toll records and burner phones.
He had gone to a freight terminal.
Rowan took Mave with him despite his instincts.
When they arrived, the place was empty.
Too empty.
Then Mave noticed a child's drawing taped to a wall.
Two brothers.
A black building.
A red sun.
And a woman standing between them.
She recognized the woman.
Her mother.
Mave's mother had died when Mave was twelve.
She had believed her mother knew nothing about her father's secret work.
She'd been wrong.
Someone had been collecting photographs of her family for years.
Rowan saw the drawing.
“Your mother?”
“Yes.”
He turned.
“Your family knew more than you were told.”
“I know.”
A phone rang.
Victor.
He spoke through a distorted voice.
“Rowan.”
“Where's Julian?”
“Safe.”
“Put him on.”
Silence.
Then Julian's voice.
“Rowan?”
His voice was weak.
“I'm okay.”
Rowan closed his eyes.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Victor, what do you want?”
“The ledger.”
“You can have it.”
Mave looked at Rowan.
He was lying.
Victor laughed.
“Not all of it.”
“What?”
“I want the Sullivan girl too.”
Mave's stomach dropped.
“You're not getting her.”
“You will.”
The line ended.
Rowan looked at Mave.
“I need you to stay here.”
“No.”
“Mave.”
“No.”
“This is not negotiable.”
“You said I could stay.”
“This is different.”
“No, it isn't.”
“You are now the target.”
“I've been the target since my father died.”
He stepped toward her.
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
His voice dropped.
“They know I would trade everything for you.”
Silence.
Mave stared.
“Why?”
Rowan didn't answer.
She stepped closer.
“Why would you trade everything for me?”
His eyes searched hers.
“I don't know when it happened.”
“What?”
“I don't know when you stopped being a responsibility.”
Her heart pounded.
“When did that happen?”
“The moment you kissed me.”
She almost laughed.
“That was a mistake.”
“No.”
He touched her cheek.
“That was the beginning.”
Then a gunshot shattered the warehouse window.
Rowan pulled her down.
May you like
More bullets followed.
The attack had begun.
